The aim of this project was to reduce consent risk for offshore wind development in areas of high red-throated diver density, through improved understanding of diver energetic budgets in the non-breeding season.

Summary

Around Europe, large-scale
deployment of offshore wind is already well underway and is
forecast to continue until at least 2020. However,
uncertainties around the impacts of offshore wind on the
environment, particularly marine birds, increase consent risk for
future developments.

Offshore wind farms are known to
cause displacement of wintering red-throated divers (Gavia
stellata), resulting in increased consent risk for projects
planned for areas of high diver density. However, the consequences
of this displacement at the individual and population level are
unknown. Displacement is likely to increase energetic costs for
divers but their ability to cope with these additional costs will
depend on how energetically constrained they are. For the first
time, energetics of red-throated divers is being investigated by
the Red-throated Diver Energetics Project. Using time depth
recorders and geolocators attached to red-throated divers on their
breeding grounds, novel information on foraging behaviour of divers
will be obtained.